Syndromica (2): Difference between revisions
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In deep space, aboard [[Turmoil]]'s captured spaceship, [[Spectro]] gripes about the assignment [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] has given to him, [[Spectro]] and [[Viewfinder]], suggesting that after weeks of nothing, they just pick a random planet from which to gather the data Shockwave wants. Suddenly, however, the very planet they are looking for materializes out of nowhere right in front of them, and as they hit its atmosphere, all aboard have a vision of Viewfinder's death. Although lasting only an eye-blink, once the vision is over all the ship's fuel has disappeared, and it begins to crash. | In deep space, aboard [[Turmoil]]'s captured spaceship, [[Spectro]] gripes about the assignment [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] has given to him, [[Spectro]] and [[Viewfinder]], suggesting that after weeks of nothing, they just pick a random planet from which to gather the data Shockwave wants. Suddenly, however, the very planet they are looking for materializes out of nowhere right in front of them, and as they hit its atmosphere, all aboard have a vision of Viewfinder's death. Although lasting only an eye-blink, once the vision is over all the ship's fuel has disappeared, and it begins to crash. | ||
[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]'s plight is detected by [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]], [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Garnak]], who have come to this region of space in pursuit of [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and his minions. Garnak deduces from Wheelie's panicked reaction to the planet's sudden appearance that it must be [[LV-117]], the world on which Wheelie was stranded for millions of years, and where they know Jhiaxus is heading. On approach, they too see a vision, of themselves down on the planet's surface, discovering the wreckage of Turmoil's craft. Both this vision and Reflector's come true in short order, as after setting down, the Autobots discover Viewfinder's dead body in the ship's remains... except that all signs indicate the craft has been there for ''over seventy years''. Exploring the ship further and discovering the time machine at its core, Orion touches the machine and is catapulted into the future, to a point at which LV-117 is being torn apart. There, he witnesses Jhiaxus fleeing aboard Turmoil's ship, and sees [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] battling native | [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]'s plight is detected by [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]], [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Garnak]], who have come to this region of space in pursuit of [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and his minions. Garnak deduces from Wheelie's panicked reaction to the planet's sudden appearance that it must be [[LV-117]], the world on which Wheelie was stranded for millions of years, and where they know Jhiaxus is heading. On approach, they too see a vision, of themselves down on the planet's surface, discovering the wreckage of Turmoil's craft. Both this vision and Reflector's come true in short order, as after setting down, the Autobots discover Viewfinder's dead body in the ship's remains... except that all signs indicate the craft has been there for ''over seventy years''. Exploring the ship further and discovering the time machine at its core, Orion touches the machine and is catapulted into the future, to a point at which LV-117 is being torn apart. There, he witnesses Jhiaxus fleeing aboard Turmoil's ship, and sees [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] battling native creatures. The monstrous [[combiner]] breaks off its fight and follows Jhiaxus, while Pax is confronted by [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]], who speaks of a meeting between himself and Orion that has not happened yet... | ||
In a white flash, Orion finds himself thrown back into LV-117's past, where he discovers Turmoil, sent there by Shockwave to gather data on the effect his [[Regenesis]] missile has had on the planet. Turmoil sees particular promise in the fact that access to Shockwave's missile has made the planet's natives extremely technologically adept, and has begun to enslave them, which naturally prompts Pax to action. The sudden appearance of Bludgeon, who removes a piece of the missile and quickly departs, distracts Pax long enough that Turmoil is able to grab a native named [[Varta]] and threaten him, but Pax's rage proves enough to overpower the Decepticon and save the alien. Another time-jolt jumps the pair further into the future, at which point Varta turns on Pax, thinking him one of the Decepticons; some tactful rhyming allows Orion to communicate with and placate the enraged alien, who explains that LV-117 has been unstuck in time by the Regenesis missile, and that his race steers it through the seas of history. The pair's attention is drawn above by the arrival of the ship carrying Reflector, sent back in time to this point upon its entry into the planet's atmosphere, and Varta leaves to investigate, against Pax's warnings. Before he can stop Varta, Orion is attacked by Bludgeon once again, who explains that Pax's contact with the time machine has set them both adrift in time. | In a white flash, Orion finds himself thrown back into LV-117's past, where he discovers Turmoil, sent there by Shockwave to gather data on the effect his [[Regenesis]] missile has had on the planet. Turmoil sees particular promise in the fact that access to Shockwave's missile has made the planet's natives extremely technologically adept, and has begun to enslave them, which naturally prompts Pax to action. The sudden appearance of Bludgeon, who removes a piece of the missile and quickly departs, distracts Pax long enough that Turmoil is able to grab a native named [[Varta]] and threaten him, but Pax's rage proves enough to overpower the Decepticon and save the alien. Another time-jolt jumps the pair further into the future, at which point Varta turns on Pax, thinking him one of the Decepticons; some tactful rhyming allows Orion to communicate with and placate the enraged alien, who explains that LV-117 has been unstuck in time by the Regenesis missile, and that his race steers it through the seas of history. The pair's attention is drawn above by the arrival of the ship carrying Reflector, sent back in time to this point upon its entry into the planet's atmosphere, and Varta leaves to investigate, against Pax's warnings. Before he can stop Varta, Orion is attacked by Bludgeon once again, who explains that Pax's contact with the time machine has set them both adrift in time. | ||
Revision as of 14:56, 10 October 2012
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| "Syndromica (2)" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | October 10, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | October 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Story by | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Livio Ramondelli | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era (2012) | ||||||||||||
Orion Pax's pursuit of Jhiaxus takes him not just to LV-117, but through time itself.
Synopsis
In deep space, aboard Turmoil's captured spaceship, Spectro gripes about the assignment Shockwave has given to him, Spectro and Viewfinder, suggesting that after weeks of nothing, they just pick a random planet from which to gather the data Shockwave wants. Suddenly, however, the very planet they are looking for materializes out of nowhere right in front of them, and as they hit its atmosphere, all aboard have a vision of Viewfinder's death. Although lasting only an eye-blink, once the vision is over all the ship's fuel has disappeared, and it begins to crash.
Reflector's plight is detected by Orion Pax, Hardhead, Wheelie and Garnak, who have come to this region of space in pursuit of Jhiaxus and his minions. Garnak deduces from Wheelie's panicked reaction to the planet's sudden appearance that it must be LV-117, the world on which Wheelie was stranded for millions of years, and where they know Jhiaxus is heading. On approach, they too see a vision, of themselves down on the planet's surface, discovering the wreckage of Turmoil's craft. Both this vision and Reflector's come true in short order, as after setting down, the Autobots discover Viewfinder's dead body in the ship's remains... except that all signs indicate the craft has been there for over seventy years. Exploring the ship further and discovering the time machine at its core, Orion touches the machine and is catapulted into the future, to a point at which LV-117 is being torn apart. There, he witnesses Jhiaxus fleeing aboard Turmoil's ship, and sees Monstructor battling native creatures. The monstrous combiner breaks off its fight and follows Jhiaxus, while Pax is confronted by Bludgeon, who speaks of a meeting between himself and Orion that has not happened yet...
In a white flash, Orion finds himself thrown back into LV-117's past, where he discovers Turmoil, sent there by Shockwave to gather data on the effect his Regenesis missile has had on the planet. Turmoil sees particular promise in the fact that access to Shockwave's missile has made the planet's natives extremely technologically adept, and has begun to enslave them, which naturally prompts Pax to action. The sudden appearance of Bludgeon, who removes a piece of the missile and quickly departs, distracts Pax long enough that Turmoil is able to grab a native named Varta and threaten him, but Pax's rage proves enough to overpower the Decepticon and save the alien. Another time-jolt jumps the pair further into the future, at which point Varta turns on Pax, thinking him one of the Decepticons; some tactful rhyming allows Orion to communicate with and placate the enraged alien, who explains that LV-117 has been unstuck in time by the Regenesis missile, and that his race steers it through the seas of history. The pair's attention is drawn above by the arrival of the ship carrying Reflector, sent back in time to this point upon its entry into the planet's atmosphere, and Varta leaves to investigate, against Pax's warnings. Before he can stop Varta, Orion is attacked by Bludgeon once again, who explains that Pax's contact with the time machine has set them both adrift in time.
Punctuating Bludgeon's words, Orion again jumps forward in time, returning to the moment of the planet's destruction that he visited earlier. No sooner has he found this era's Wheelie and Varta than Bludgeon kills Varta, and Jhiaxus makes his presence known, standing atop the spacecraft Wheelie and his friend had been intending to use to flee the doomed planet. Jhiaxus denies responsibility for LV-117's destruction, and when asked by Pax why he was screaming his name, Jhiaxus corrects him—his screams of "Prime" and "Pax" were screams for Gorlam Prime and "Pax Cybertronia". Like Ironhide, he too saw a vision of the future at the moment of Cybertron's reformatting, of Gorlam Prime as the center of a Cybertronian empire, and recognized it as the fulfilment of Nova Prime's dream. "True chaos" is coming, Jhiaxus warns, but using the mutated soil of LV-117—controlled by the device from the missile that Bludgeon recovered from the past—he plans to teleport Gorlam Prime through time... and claims that Orion will help him! To stop Jhiaxus, Wheelie unleashes a Chaosteros and an Arachnosaur from within his ship, which he had planned to take with him, keeping Monstructor busy while Pax and Wheelie try to recover the control device. Wheelie knocks it from Jhiaxus's hand with his slingshot and Prime seizes it... but then Orion realizes that he has seen this before, and that he cannot stop them from escaping, because it has already happened.
Orion awakes back in the relative present, outside his ship, as Wheelie, Hardhead and Garnak run out to meet him. Hardhead explains that he has been missing for a month, but that Wheelie would not let them leave without him. Still holding the control device, Orion tells them all he can, and they depart the planet, losing a further two weeks escaping its fluctuating chronal grip. Orion knows that Jhiaxus must be stopped, but another concern now gnaws at his mind... what destroyed LV-117?
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
Notes
- This issue picks up the story of Orion and his pursuit of Jhiaxus from where it was left at the end of issue #6.
- In large part, this issue revolves around rectifying and significantly building upon a notable continuity error from several years prior. Published in 2008, Spotlight: Wheelie showed the Reflector trio dying on LV-117, only for the characters to turn up alive a few months later in All Hail Megatron #3. Events in the ongoing series would eventually rule out the possibility that they had gone on to meet their fates on LV-117 after All Hail Megatron. And now we know how it worked out!
- Although not explored any more deeply here than in Spotlight: Wheelie, the Quintesson connection to the planet that the original story implied with the appearance of a hieroglyph of the aliens' Face of Death is reiterated here, as a similar drawing is seen scrawled onto the casing of the Regenesis missile in the distant past.
- Varta originally appeared in Spotlight: Wheelie, but was curiously absent when Wheelie reappeared in "Space Opera". This issue reveals what happened to him in between stories.
- "Space Opera" also showed that Wheelie had relocated from LV-117 to its neighbor, LV-118, using the ship of Quintesson spiral design that Jhiaxus briefly takes control of in this issue. In addition to finding out why he relocated—the destruction of LV-117—we also find out that he attempted to bring a Chaosteros and an Arachnosaur with him, local fauna that originally appeared in Spotlight: Wheelie and made an illogical appearance on LV-118 in "Space Opera".
- Jhiaxus is revealed to have seen the same vision during the Chaos event as recent Robots in Disguise issues have established Ironhide did—the glimpse of the far future seen in the last issue of the ongoing series.
- Jhiaxus calls Orion the "one true Matrix-bearer", further substantiating the suggestion of recent issues of More than Meets the Eye and the Robots in Disguise annual that none of the Primes prior to Optimus actually carried the Matrix.
- In the aforementioned final ongoing issue, a passing reference was made to how Wheelie was the first of the Transformers to see the "great destroyer". That sobriquet, of course, immediately suggested the planet-munching Unicron, who has been absent from IDW's continuity thus far... and now we know that something capable of destroying planets is roaming the universe...
Covers (3)
- Cover A: Bludgeon close-up, by Livio Ramondelli
- Cover B: Orion Pax faces off against Monstructor, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
- Cover RI: Orion Pax and Wheelie, by Marcelo Matere and Joana Lafuente
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